Travel thoughts

Even though I've been home from Europe for 7 months now, I still think about it pretty much everyday. I'm so in love. I wonder if this feeling will go away or if I'm just meant to live in Europe for real or just meant to be a traveller.. maybe I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage of travelling...

Either way, the travel bug is alive and well in me and has me wanting to plan future trips. To see the world would be the most amazing adventure.

Egypt, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Canada, South America... I want to see it all. I obviously can't list off every place out there or even all the ones I want to see, but there is an ever running list in my head, pictures in my phone and ideas everywhere.

Any time I get to a book store I am pulled right to the section full of travel books. I make myself a stack of the ones I want, then realize that small stack is well over $100 and put them back because that is $100 I could save to get me somewhere new instead of just reading about it. Not to say I won't get those books eventually, probably just not all at once. My European guide book was SO helpful during my travels.

In my spare time I frequently look up flights, read hostel reviews, pin pictures on pinterest, read about train travel and generally do 'future research.' I have also kept all my travel apps on my iPhone for future reference. Though it turns out that those apps can be pretty useful in my daily life too. Frommer's Travel Tools is one of my favorite apps. It converts currency, weights, distance, temperature and volumes, has a world clock, tip calculator, flashlight, packing list, guide books, E-postcards, games and a list of other recommended apps! It's just so good!!
I also read a lot of other people's blogs and some of my favorites are all about, you guessed it, travel!

Anything to get my little bit of the world is good enough for now. One day though, I'll see it all!
xoxo

Paleo week 2

This week has definitely been much harder than last week. In fact, it would be safe to say it tried hard to kick my ass, and may have succeeded just a bit..
I was in a full-on painful sugar withdrawal. Really bad throbbing headaches, head rushes and a big drop in energy. By 6pm everyday I was crashing hard and mostly just wanted to sleep. The withdrawals bring cravings with them. Cravings that take over the day and all my thoughts and left me totally exhausted. I just wanted sugar!!!

By mid-week I caved and cheated just the tiniest bit. Chad and I went for sushi and I had mochi. I can't say I felt bad about it, or that it really affected me, but in my head it was a little boost that I needed. And obviously so tasty.

I'm always looking up new recipes now and trying to find ways to eat the foods I love, but have them be better for me. I made 2 treats and as far as I'm concerned, they are guilt free. Not to say they should be eaten all at once, which I may or may not have done with one of them.......

The first thing I made was a mixed berry crumble. Essentially it was fruit and nuts. There is also a little maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, honey and coconut oil. Like I said, guilt free.
If you'd like to try this one out, you will need a cake pan. Whatever size you want. Some mixed berries (4 cups) laid in the bottom and half a lemon squeezed over them. In a bowl mix 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup chopped nuts of your choice, 1/4 cup melted coconut oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
Layer the nut mix over the fruit and bake on 375F for 30-40 minutes until the fruit bubbles at the edge and the crust is brown.
Enjoy!!

Next I made a banana loaf with pumpkin and blueberries. Just trust me when I say it was phenomenal. You will have to wait for another day to learn to make it though!

And lastly, my mornings have changed significantly since I can no longer have the fast and simple cereal, oatmeal or yogurt with fruit. I've been getting up pretty much every morning to make scrambled eggs with mixed veggies. I can happily say that even though it takes more time and is more dishes, it keeps me full longer. Always a good thing.

Even though the week sucked, I'm very content to carry on and make this work for me. I hope it does!
xoxo

Paleo week 1

Week 1 of my transition to paleo went very well. I wasn't missing anything, I felt good and I was feeling strong. So far the biggest difference is that I really have to make some extra time in the day to cook because you can't just grab a package of something and throw it in the microwave.

As of week 1, the most difficult thing was shopping. Reading all the labels and ingredients on everything. As well, it's harder to be away from home if I'm not prepared because I can't just pick or order anything that appeals any more. I basically became a little old lady always carrying snacks in my purse..

Throughout the whole week I was feeling excited for this new change. Nothing but good feelings toward it. I was rewarded with losing just under ten pounds.. That is obviously somewhat excessive and not necessarily realistic, but it speaks volumes to how much and what I was eating before. But no means do I expect to continue to lose weight like this, nor do I want to.

Another big thing is that I've really had to make room in my day for food prep and cooking. I have to wake up earlier every morning so I have time to make myself breakfast. Anything that requires me to pull out a frying pan is going to take longer than scooping yogurt or pouring cereal and milk.

Throughout the week I tried making a few different things and they all turned out quite good. Most notably, I cooked my first chicken! I usually just have chicken breast or thigh.. this time I had the whole bird! It wasn't burnt or dry or anything!!!

It's actually now the beginning of week 3, but I'm hoping to keep updating this as I can, partly as a journal and partly to share with others.
See you soon!
xoxo

Happy 4th birthday, Lily!

To the sweetest girl,
Not only do I remember visiting you in the hospital when you were 4 hours old, but I remember being told (and already knowing) that you were expected. I couldn't have been happier.
Life doesn't always go the way that might be ideal, but it works out eventually. Through everything you are so loved and I'm so happy to be your Auntie.
I love you so much, little girl.
Happy Birthday!

Jasper, Alberta .. Place of beauty

For a very memorable day out on this August long weekend I joined my dad, stepmom, sister and niece on a day trip to one of my favorite places. Jasper, Alberta.

It's a distance that works well for day trips but it's also long enough to justify staying the night. For this particular trip we left early and came back late.

The basic plan was to go for a hike in Maligne Canyon, see the town and then go for a walk at Pyramid lake and it pretty much went just like that.
My nearly 4 year old niece, Lily, survived a full hour long hike without ever needing to be carried and she had a great time doing it. Just like me she preferred the paths through the trees rather than the set trails. Even more than that though she seemed to love the water the most. A trickle, a river or a raging waterfall. All equally exciting. She watched very carefully for bears the whole time and told us what to do if we saw one. Pet it.... I tried really hard to get that idea out of her head but she wouldn't have it. I guess when you are only 4 a bear is a bear, whether it be a grizzly or a teddy.

She also had what I think may have been her first outhouse experience and let me just tell you, she was terrified! I giant hole of gross and she was expected to sit on it?!?!? It took a lot of convincing I can assure you.

Maligne Canyon is a short drive from the town of Jasper and a pretty great spot to look for animals. We saw a moose, baby bear, mountain goats and elk.

Once in town the best thing to do is either walk around and shop, or eat. We obviously did both. I had some of the best poutine I've ever had and some pizza.

Pyramid lake is one of the most stunning places in the park and I love to go there. I think every time I've been to Jasper in the past several years I have gone out there. Even attended a wedding on the island!
The tiny island looks out over a crystal clear lake and up into the mountains, one of them is the pyramid for which the lake is named.

This one.

Unfortunately, as all days must, this one was coming to an end. We decided to make one last pit stop to see another lake and it turned in swimming. Fully clothed.
Lily had asked to go swimming earlier in the day and since we happened to be here with our feet in the water anyway and since there were extra clothes in the car we jumped in. Not literally though. It's always a bit cold and we didn't bring towels. I planned to go as far as the bottom of my shorts and let Lily have her fun but that didn't happen. I ended up wet up to my bellybutton and splashed all over. My sister eventually joined in too and also came out less dry than planned. I tried to show Lily the minnows swimming on the bottom but she just couldn't see them. She could see big rocks for throwing and making splashes with though...
The fun part really began after the water though, trying to be "lady-like" and change in a parking lot without showing anything off is rather a difficult task. We were all laughing so hard it hurt. The important part is that it all worked out and we had fun.

xoxo

The little zoo in Edmonton

The other day a good friend and I spent an afternoon out at the zoo.

I have pretty mixed feelings about this place. I don't like that the animals are in relatively tiny spaces and behind bars or glass, but at the very same time some of the animals wouldn't survive in the wild or are near extinction and are therefore being preserved. 

Either way, I do love to see the animals.

At some point during the day my step-sister and niece joined us.

 A good solid highlight from our trip was seeing the zoo keepers walking some of the animals. Seeing Lucy the Elepahant out on a walk is especially exciting. We also saw Lily the Wallaby out on her leash.

As is pretty much average for all my days out, it rained. I really don't mind, but I aught to start being more prepared. I had an umbrella but Lily (my niece, not the coincidentally named Wallaby) wore her rubber boots. Everything is more fun in rubber boots.

On a side note, wouldn't it be awesome to stick to walls like this?!?!

A great day out is pretty much always in the books when visiting the zoo. We have an new Arctic area too!

All the info about it can be found here.

xoxo

50 years of..

Going back in time a bit to part 1 of my vacation, I spent several days in Saskatchewan with my family for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. 50 years!!! It mostly blows my mind because I haven't even been alive for half that time.. Crazy!!!

The main highlight and event was the party. Casual and comfortable in their backyard with 100 other people, eating good food, catching up with family, meeting family I never knew I had and celebrating love. 

Getting to play dress up in the 

wedding dress and suit with my little brother was pretty fun too..

The other major part of the trip was getting to meet my niece for the first time! At 8 months old she is the happiest and sweetest little girl. All smiles and the most contagious giggle. It's too bad she had to go home to New Brunswick. Living in Canada is great, but one sad part is the crazy distance that needs to be travelled to get pretty much anywhere. At least we have good scenery along the way. 

I'll visit soon sweet girl! Hopefully..

Bonding with uncle.

Eating cake, and bathing in it apparently. This is likely the best face any baby ever wore.

Decked out for the game with her daddy, 2 uncles and great uncle.

Lots of visiting, playing, shopping and pictures happened before I left for Drumheller and more good times!

xoxo

Hiking, snakes and shopping

For the finale of my vacation we spent the day on a long hike.

Horseshoe canyon was formed by glaciers and is therefore very natural and rugged. Some of the hills are sandstone, others are like slick black popcorn.. Bizarre, I know. 

We spent a good 2 hours going up and down and all throughout the canyon. We even saw a tiny snake! When we found ourselves up high I pretended to fly again and when we were well grounded I kept my eyes out for Dino fossils... The child in me can't help it! You know you wanna find a dinosaur bone too!!

When we eventually tore ourselves away from the raw beauty of Canada's badlands we stopped in at Reptile World in Drumheller. Basically it is just what it sounds like. There are aisles and aisles of terrariums full of snakes, spiders, frogs, lizards, crocs, alligators, tortoise's and turtles. I even held a snake! What a brave girl I am!

On one of the tanks we read that this particular Nile Crocodile was confiscated from a woman's carry-on luggage on her way back into Canada. Really. Her carry-on. I guess she found it in a market and decided on a whim to buy it. It was only about 20 cm at that time but is now easily around my size.. What was she going to do??? Keep it in her bath tub?!

The whole place doesn't take to terribly long to get through and so the obvious thing to go do after was have ice cream. Again. 

And finally to end the day we went swimming. With a bus load of 13 year old's. 

Dear parents, please forgive me for ever being that age. 

Realistically we should all just go from 12 to 14. 

Anyway, after swimming it was off to our last fire and roasted supper before bed.

Feeling reluctant to have my vacation end we packed and loaded everything and decided to drive the short trip to Calgary for some shopping. Great choice. It was my first time shopping at Crossiron mills outlet mall and it was AWESOME! Please take me back.

Drive, drive, drive and finally Home. 

xoxo

Hoodoos and bridges

Day 2 of "camping" in Drumheller started off not as most camp trips start, with breakfast made on a little camp stove, but instead started with a drive to Tim Hortons.. naughty.

After breakfast and coffee for Chad we headed right out.
First stop, Hoodoos!

Basically, if you don't know what a hoodoo is, imagine a sandstone mushroom...... yeah, that's pretty much it.
The hoodoos have been naturally shaped by wind and time and stand proudly in the hills outside Drumheller. As a huge tourist draw they are roped off so not to be destroyed by the crowds of people that come to see them. The surrounding hills and all around them make a nice little climb though.

Next we took a little drive to the suspension bridge that is near by. I'm pretty sure the bridge is somehow related to mining but that's about all I could tell you. It's very long and I'm sure it isn't much fun to walk on if some obnoxious person swings it or starts to jump. I would have had to beat that person.

Once across we did some more climbing and found ourselves a perfect little lookout from the top of the hill. Mostly I just spread my arms, closed my eyes and allowed the wind to have it's way with my hair. It was like flying. of course, what goes up must come down and it's no exception for Dani's so down I went. Back across the bridge and off to camp.

It seems our fire starting skills have become a little rusty in our time away from camping so we figured we should give ourself enough time and sunlight to get things happening before we couldn't get a hotdog (read: marshmallow) roast in.
Much more successfully than our first night we eventually had a good fire happening, a potato baking away in the embers and hotdogs on sticks.

And in case you were wondering, that potato turned out wonderfully. I smuthered it in cheese and gave it some beef jerky bits. Mmmmm

xoxo